Correspondence: Robert M. Politzer, Bureau of Primary Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, PKLN/17-89, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, USA

Abstract

In 2001, the United States federal government began a 5-year initiative to expand services offered by health centers to people who live in area designated "underserved" because there are insufficient primary care medical practitioners. There were national targets for expansion. How the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reviewed and monitored State plans to expand health centers is presented. These early results suggest that collectively the States would meet the target. Several States would require major efforts to move toward the national average and they were examined more closely.